Prime Minister Haydar al-‘Abadi’s government is in fresh turmoil after his 18 July order accepting the resignations of six cabinet ministers. While Mr ‘Abadi has been seeking to engineer a cabinet reshuffle in order to appoint a “technocratic government” the key obstacle remains the same – securing parliament’s approval of any nominated replacements.

In the meantime, economic and social reforms will remain sidelined as Iraq’s political...